Registered Nurses Announce Live Video Chat to Discuss Survey Data Finding Hospitals Unprepared for H1N1

Friday, 12 Noon PST @  www.CalNurses.org

Data from 190 Healthcare Facilities in Nine States from California to Maine

Registered nurses from the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee will host a live video chat for America’s RNs this Friday at 12 noon to present the results of a new survey on H1N1/swine flu preparedness in American hospitals, and answer questions from nurses.  The RNs will also discuss their “careplan” to ensure that our nation handles the H1N1 virus in a medically appropriate manner.

WHAT: Registered Nurse Live Chat: Data on Hospital Preparedness for H1N1

WHEN: Friday, August 28 – 12 Noon, PST

WHERE: Log-in via www.CalNurses.org

The study, conducted at 190 healthcare facilities in nine states found that a disturbing number of our nation’s healthcare facilities are not prepared for the coming H1N1/swine flu pandemic, according to results released today by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. 

Key findings of the study included:

• At more than one-fourth of the hospitals, nurses cite inadequate isolation of swine flu patients, increasing the risk of infection to others.
  
  
• Nurses at 15 percent of hospitals do not have access to the proper respirator masks, exposing nurses and patients to infection; at up to 40 percent of the hospitals, nurses are expected to reuse masks, in violation of Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
  
  
• At 18 percent of the hospitals, RNs report that nurses have become infected; one Sacramento, Calif. RN has already died.